Krabi Geography & Landscape
It's estimated that the Krabi coastline contains over 200 limestone and jungle-covered islands. Many are uninhabited outcrops rising from the sea with tiny patches of pristine white sandy beaches.
Much of Krabi's coastline is dotted with little coves and mangroves which form a unique eco-system and serve as a natural breeding ground for diverse aquatic life. Krabi's beaches are gradually opening out to tourism, although care is being taken to ensure management of the environment.
Development is being kept low rise with many hotels designed to blend in with the surroundings. There are few deckchairs and construction directly on the beach has been kept to a minimum in most resort areas.
Fishing is widely carried out along the coastline and on most larger islands, and although traditional methods are still in use, modern trawling techniques are threatening fish numbers and the industry. Shrimp and cockle farming has been a high-growth industry since the early 1990s, and there is also a flourishing grouper farming industry.
Bordered by Phang Nga, Surat Thani, and Trang provinces, the interior of Krabi Province presents a landscape of weirdly shaped limestone mountains, separated by flat valleys with rubber and oil palm plantations.
There are many unusual cave systems in the rocks, resulting in large caverns and tunnels. Some of the larger caverns have been made into Buddhist temples or shrines and others have revealed evidence of human habitation from over 43,000 years ago.